![Graphic courtesy of Santa Fe Opera](http://www.operatoday.com/Butterfly_SantaFe.png)
01 Aug 2018
Santa Fe Floats a Beauteous Butterfly
Two new stars moved triumphantly into the ongoing run of Santa Fe Opera’s mesmerizing rendition of Puccini’s Madame Butterfly.
English Touring Opera are delighted to announce a season of lyric monodramas to tour nationally from October to December. The season features music for solo singer and piano by Argento, Britten, Tippett and Shostakovich with a bold and inventive approach to making opera during social distancing.
This tenth of ten Live from London concerts was in fact a recorded live performance from California. It was no less enjoyable for that, and it was also uplifting to learn that this wasn’t in fact the ‘last’ LfL event that we will be able to enjoy, courtesy of VOCES8 and their fellow vocal ensembles (more below ).
Ever since Wigmore Hall announced their superb series of autumn concerts, all streamed live and available free of charge, I’d been looking forward to this song recital by Ian Bostridge and Imogen Cooper.
Although Stile Antico’s programme article for their Live from London recital introduced their selection from the many treasures of the English Renaissance in the context of the theological debates and upheavals of the Tudor and Elizabethan years, their performance was more evocative of private chamber music than of public liturgy.
Evidently, face masks don’t stifle appreciative “Bravo!”s. And, reducing audience numbers doesn’t lower the volume of such acclamations. For, the audience at Wigmore Hall gave soprano Elizabeth Llewellyn and pianist Simon Lepper a greatly deserved warm reception and hearty response following this lunchtime recital of late-Romantic song.
For this week’s Live from London vocal recital we moved from the home of VOCES8, St Anne and St Agnes in the City of London, to Kings Place, where The Sixteen - who have been associate artists at the venue for some time - presented a programme of music and words bound together by the theme of ‘reflection’.
'Such is your divine Disposation that both you excellently understand, and royally entertaine the Exercise of Musicke.’
‘And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven that old serpent Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.’
There was never any doubt that the fifth of the twelve Met Stars Live in Concert broadcasts was going to be a palpably intense and vivid event, as well as a musically stunning and theatrically enervating experience.
‘Love’ was the theme for this Live from London performance by Apollo5. Given the complexity and diversity of that human emotion, and Apollo5’s reputation for versatility and diverse repertoire, ranging from Renaissance choral music to jazz, from contemporary classical works to popular song, it was no surprise that their programme spanned 500 years and several musical styles.
The Academy of St Martin in the Fields have titled their autumn series of eight concerts - which are taking place at 5pm and 7.30pm on two Saturdays each month at their home venue in Trafalgar Square, and being filmed for streaming the following Thursday - ‘re:connect’.
The London Symphony Orchestra opened their Autumn 2020 season with a homage to Oliver Knussen, who died at the age of 66 in July 2018. The programme traced a national musical lineage through the twentieth century, from Britten to Knussen, on to Mark-Anthony Turnage, and entwining the LSO and Rattle too.
With the Live from London digital vocal festival entering the second half of the series, the festival’s host, VOCES8, returned to their home at St Annes and St Agnes in the City of London to present a sequence of ‘Choral Dances’ - vocal music inspired by dance, embracing diverse genres from the Renaissance madrigal to swing jazz.
Just a few unison string wriggles from the opening of Mozart’s overture to Le nozze di Figaro are enough to make any opera-lover perch on the edge of their seat, in excited anticipation of the drama in music to come, so there could be no other curtain-raiser for this Gala Concert at the Royal Opera House, the latest instalment from ‘their House’ to ‘our houses’.
"Before the ending of the day, creator of all things, we pray that, with your accustomed mercy, you may watch over us."
The doors at The Metropolitan Opera will not open to live audiences until 2021 at the earliest, and the likelihood of normal operatic life resuming in cities around the world looks but a distant dream at present. But, while we may not be invited from our homes into the opera house for some time yet, with its free daily screenings of past productions and its pay-per-view Met Stars Live in Concert series, the Met continues to bring opera into our homes.
Music-making at this year’s Grange Festival Opera may have fallen silent in June and July, but the country house and extensive grounds of The Grange provided an ideal setting for a weekend of twelve specially conceived ‘promenade’ performances encompassing music and dance.
There’s a “slide of harmony” and “all the bones leave your body at that moment and you collapse to the floor, it’s so extraordinary.”
“Music for a while, shall all your cares beguile.”
The hum of bees rising from myriad scented blooms; gentle strains of birdsong; the cheerful chatter of picnickers beside a still lake; decorous thwacks of leather on willow; song and music floating through the warm evening air.
Two new stars moved triumphantly into the ongoing run of Santa Fe Opera’s mesmerizing rendition of Puccini’s Madame Butterfly.
Ana María Martínez is an operagoer’s dream of a Cio-Cio-San. Ms. Martínez not only has the role utterly securely in her voice, but has also anchored it deeply in her soul. She starts out coloring her substantial soprano sweetly, tremulously, deferentially, and thanks to her slim figure and youthful movement, she manages to actually suggest the naïve fifteen year old bride.
With her first utterance of Act II, however, she suggests a world-weary weight in the instrument that at once conveys her subsequent anguished plight. There is no aspect of this complex characterization that escapes her, and her complete command of the score’s demands places her squarely on the very short list of the role’s most accomplished practitioners.
Video courtesy of LA Opera
Moreover, her alluring creamy middle register rises seamlessly to gleaming heights above the staff. Her ravishing climactic top notes rang out in the house, and her flawlessly controlled, floated pianissimo effects were just as stunning. The rich dramatic detail and nonpareil musicianship that Ana María Martínez brings to this performance is the beating heart of the evening’s persuasive music making.
It is to Joshua Guerrero’s great credit that he actually imbues the caddish Pinkerton with genuine appreciation of his young bride, a believable soft spot for her boundless devotion, and a deeply felt remorse for the heart-rending results of his feckless decisions. Mr. Guerrero’s youthful, burnished tenor handily meets all the demands of the role. While his technique is even throughout the range, the very highest notes in Act I seemed slightly veiled. With his re-emergence in Act III, the voice displayed a more pointed gleam that made his contribution to the trio and especially his impassioned Addio, fiortio asil moments of unsurpassed beauty.
Martínez and Guerrero were successfully joining a “work in progress.” The rest of the solid cast was continuing in the run that began earlier in the season. The fluid sense of ensemble and the admirable execution of the business were so natural, that it appeared this cast had collaborated together for months.
Mezzo-soprano Megan Marino was a revelation as the faithful Suzuki. Ms. Marino’s plummy, stirring low register blossomed effortlessly into an easy middle and upper range that not only imbued The Flower Duet with limpid glamour, but also rang out with urgent conviction as she tries to compel the steadfast heroine to seek another life course. Her staunch, sometimes salty impersonation was a force to be reckoned with.
Nicholas Pallesen proved a fine asset as the well intended, if dithering consul Sharpless. Mr. Pallesen sports a beefy, rolling baritone that he deploys to good effect. He effectively communicated the character’s vacillating intentions, paralyzing indecision and continually withering resolve. If there was an occasional lumbering phrase in the passaggio, his was an engaging traversal, replete with some stirring high notes.
Matthew DiBattista was a particularly self-serving Goro (the men don’t come off so well in this piece, do they??). His oily insinuations were nonetheless wonderfully vocalized. Indeed, in the opening banter, Mr. DiBattista’s timbre sounded more akin to Mr. Guerrero’s leading man than the usual comprimario. His deliciously unctuous characterization was fully realized and relentlessly focused. As the Bonze, Solomon Howard seemed a force of nature, his powerful, rich bass booming out the character’s damning disapproval.
Kenneth Stavert was a particularly imposing Price Yamadori, his stature and sturdy baritone boldly embodying the spoiled, pompous royal. Hannah Haggerty was given more to sing as Kate Pinkerton than is usual, and Ms. Haggerty’s plush, attractive mezzo made the most of every opportunity. Stavert, Haggerty, and all of the Apprentice Singers shone in their brief solo assignments, with bass Colin Ramsey contributing particularly suave declamations as the Registrar. Youngster Paulino Rivera-Torres was a heart-tugging presence as Trouble, who startlingly executes a real coup de theatre at a critical dramatic moment. Susanne Shelton’s chorus was a well-knit ensemble.
I have enjoyed many fine performances from the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra over the years but none has been quite as effortlessly radiant as this Puccini. Conductor John Fiore led such a stylish, colorful, committed reading that the band became another character in the drama. Maestro Fiore exerted awesome control of his forces, partnering wonderfully with the singers with the accommodating elasticity that they needed to “live” the tragic story. From the lush banks of strings to the characterful solo playing, the assemblage made a definitive case for Puccini’s masterpiece.
There was more music than usual, with material included that the composer had excised. While it was all performed to a fare thee well and was interesting to experience, perhaps Puccini knew best, and the evening might have been even tighter without some of these rambling additions.
The revival of Lee Blakeley’s production was uncommonly affecting. Matthew Ozawa has directed with a fine eye to defining each character’s personal journey and their interaction with each other. The intriguing character relationships were evidently successful manifestations of subtext and background considerations. The recurring appearance and integration of an American flag yielded many of the shows most stirring moments.
Set designer Jean-Marc Puissant has devised a wholly effective environment. At curtain rise, only the frame of the house, flanked by selectively placed boughs of pink cherry blossoms. As the music begins, the cast brings on the props, and installs the sliding screens on house, as though Pinkerton may be having it built.
The loving, warm look at the close of Act I gave way in Act II to a worn down, sterile space, the blooming trees having been supplanted by the ugly installation of telephone poles and power lines running from down- to up-stage right. The desolation is further communicated by Rick Fisher’s sensitive lighting design ranging from the soft hues at Act I’s wedding, to the austere reality of Act II’s grey day, to the dawning of false hope in Act III. Every lighting design here is brilliantly augmented by the natural dramatic effects of beautiful sunsets seen through the rear of the open stage and sporadic lightning. On this night we were blessed with both.
Brigitte Reifenstuel brought a wealth of invention and imagination to her richly varied costume design. After the attractive japonaiserie of Act I, Ms. Reifenstuel attired the heroine and her servant in severe blacks and grays, subtly suggesting that Cio-Cio-San may be more in mourning than she is in anticipation of her husband’s return. When Butterfly sheds the dark colors to once more don her wedding gown, the effect is even more wrenching.
Thank you, Santa Fe Opera for giving the world this haunting, impeccably mounted, honestly conceived Madame Butterfly. For this viewer, it sets the gold standard against which all future renditions of this evergreen classic will be judged.
James Sohre
Cast and production information:
Cio-Cio-San: Ana María Martínez; B. F. Pinkerton: Joshua Guerrero; Suzuki: Megan Marino; Sharpless: Nicholas Pallesen; Goro: Matthew DiBattista; The Bonze Solomon Howard; Prince Yamadori: Kenneth Stavert; Kate Pinkerton: Hannah Haggerty; Trouble: Paulino Rivera-Torres; Butterfly’s Cousin: Sylvia D’Eramo; Her Mother: Kaitlyn McMonigle; Yakuside: Benjamin Taylor; Her Aunt: Meryl Dominguez; The Imperial Commissioner: Erik van Heyningen; The Registrar: Colin Ramsey; Conductor: John Fiore; Director: Matthew Ozawa; Set Design: Jean-Marc Puissant; Lighting Design: Rick Fisher; Costume Design: Brigitte Reifenstuel; Choreography: Nicola Bowie; Chorus Master: Susanne Sheston; Original Production: Lee Blakeley